[quote="jin2"]zomfg, vegan dagwood dogs, where =!!! I'm going up to Queensland sometime later this year to visit my grandma =)

Here in Brisbane every Saturday morning there's the West End markets. There's a stall called YKillAMooCow that does vegan dagwood dogs, awesome pies, vegan samosas, and vegan sausage rolls. They also do some veggie stuff unfortunately.

Well, the concept of vegetarianism IS different there, but dairy wasn't part of the diet to begin with. One difference you'll find is there is no hot spices, garlic or alcohol in the buddhist restaurants, so the food can be a bit bland. But other flavours make up for it. And there is an amazing variety of food.

As far as containing things that wouldn't fit a vegan diet, I've heard that some restaurants use eggs. If so, it is usually marked on the menu in Chinese. If you don't have someone with you who speaks Mandarin or Cantonese, it's likely someone will be around who will try to help you (and being HK there's a lot of english around). But honestly this was never a problem for me because I always went to one of the hundreds of buffets. All the food is out and what's in it is pretty transparent. I think this is a great way to go because (1) you can see what you're about to eat and if it looks good to you and (2) you get to try a whole bunch of dishes!

Overall I would say that instead of just saying that you are vegan which might not translate culturally even if you're both speaking English, it's best to explain what foods you don't eat. It might help to give a point of reference by saying something like: I eat like a buddhist here except where I come from we don't eat ...

One other random idea - you could make a card that explains what vegan is by briefly listing what foods you can't eat. Try to find someone who can write this for you before you go. Of if you can't, then find someone in HK who will write it for you.

The greatest thing about having so much good vegan food around you is that people respect vegetarianism! People would always tell me that I was a good, sweet girl because of my diet (little did they know haha).

I'll be in Melbourne in a couple of weeks, until mid-Jan. If you have got any little gatherings planned, please let me know - here, or PM me - I'd love to meet some vegans down under!
Thanks again for all the useful tips above - looks like I will be well fed!
Ab x